


So This Is The End

by TheLaziestMotherfucker



Category: Class (TV 2016), Doctor Who & Related Fandoms
Genre: Angst, Canonical Character Death, F/F, F/M, Heavy Angst, M/M, Post-Canon, Post-Finale, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-02
Updated: 2019-10-04
Packaged: 2020-07-29 10:51:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,177
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20080981
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheLaziestMotherfucker/pseuds/TheLaziestMotherfucker
Summary: Years have past and the crack never came back...





	1. The Beginning of the End

**Author's Note:**

> I'm going through mood swings and I miss my kids

It was silent. Ever since the Cabinet of Souls, the corridors and classrooms, the fields and streets, have remained quiet with nothing but the sound of traffic filling the atmosphere. It was normal; or at least, as normal as Coal Hill could ever be. The crack never appeared again. There were no more aliens or monsters crawling around London, and if there were the Doctor usually handled it themselves. Any incident that was deemed “unnormal” was out of range from the prior students and current teacher of Coal Hill and was left up to the Doctor to solve. 

Their world was forever changed and it was never forgiven. Anger, regret, and sadness seeped deep into the ground of the place that was once deemed home. Sometimes they felt guilty, wondering if there was something they needed to be doing, pondering if they needed to be running to save the world, but the world has not ended. Every time someone else has solved it. Presumably, the Doctor is the one always saving it. Sometimes they wondered if the Doctor simply lifted their burden from them and took care of it themselves, but they don’t know for certain. 

Only Charlie, Quill, and Matteusz by accident, have seen the Doctor since the Cabinet of Souls. They never spoke about it, even to each other. 

Nevertheless, the crack of Coal Hill went away as if it never existed, and the six who were affected by it pretended that it never happened. They knew, of course, it was hard to ignore the events that left them forever changed and scarred, but they drifted apart, acting like they never meant anything to each other. They were physically close, none of them went far for uni, but none of them hardly ever spoke to each other. There were occasional run-ins that were passed by with awkward glares, but the worst was the  _ painful  _ encounters that required small talk to pass the time. 

As far as each other knew, they were living their own separate lives. They kept each other's contacts in their phones, but they kept it as a precaution if anything ever changed at Coal Hill. No one really spoke to each other. Hell, they even went to the same university, and yet, they never interacted. It was too painful for each of them. They thought that if they ignored it for long enough it would all become a distant memory and feel like a nightmare. It would never be long enough.

Charlie was currently pursuing math with a minor in fine arts. April was studying to become an English teacher. Tanya, being the genius that she is, was majoring in science with minors in anything and everything. Ram might end up becoming a star athlete with the scholarship he has. Matteusz was studying ethics. They knew all of this from either their forceful small talk or social media. They wondered what everyone was going to do in their lives, but it didn’t seem worth digging up the past. 

There was an unspoken, mutual understanding of silence between the five adults. Nothing needed to be discussed. They didn’t need to be friends. Not after what happened. If they lived their separate lives, perhaps they would find new friends, new lovers, and hopefully a newfound family. 

Charlie and Matteusz broke up after the Cabinet of Souls. Their breakup was never a pinpointed thing, it just slowly happened. After weeks upon weeks of sobs, arguments, and neverending hours of complete silence, they knew that they were done for. They continued living together - although Matteusz offered to move out - but they never had any kind of relationship afterward. How could a relationship much less a friendship be salvaged after one of them killed their friend and committed mass genocide? They lived in relative silence. Charlie and Matteusz avoided Quill, and Charlie and Matteusz avoided each other, and Quill, as always, avoided those two. 

Once they started University, both of the young men signed up for dorms and moved out. After their first year, they moved out of the dorms and each found their own apartment. Charlie was living by himself in a nice flat near campus. Matteusz was a little further down living with his roommate from the first year. 

Ram, although loving April deeply, ending up making the painful decision to bring their relationship as well. It was one of the bravest and most mature things he has ever done. They talked. They talked about everything that happened on an almost nightly basis. It was the most therapeutic and healthy thing that any of them had done after the events, but they recognized that neither was in a place to be romantically involved. It was understandable, seeing as how Ram had lost so many people and was completely engulfed in grief and April had died, come back to life, and then had to get out of Corakinus’s body, it was a lot and while they shared openly, they still needed to figure out some stuff on their own. 

They maintained a relationship after their break up, but school, graduating, and applying for university caused them to drift apart. That was enough on its own without having to heal and deal with their personal lives. After a while, it felt weird for both of them to call each other when they barely spoke in person.

Tanya was probably dealt the worst hand of all. After her mother's death, she and her brothers had to move to her Grandmother’s house. It wasn’t too far from school but it wasn’t in walking distance like her family’s flat. It required about a twenty to half an hour tube ride. No one faulted her for being angry at them. She had to relive her father’s death with the Lankin and had to witness the brutal murder of her mother. She had to learn to fight to save her life. She was only 14 years old… 

The move and tension severed their relationship with her. Last they heard, she had grown only closer to her brothers, which they supposed was good since they now knew about aliens too, but… It was hard not to worry about her. She seemed to be doing well. She was thriving academically and she had a supposedly sweet and awesome girlfriend, Addy, and they have each seen her with a tight looking group of friends, but they wish they had gotten to hear about each of those things instead of hearing it through the vine and seeing it through a crowd. They should’ve done better to keep their relationship with her. 

Their fallen friendship with Tanya was one of their biggest regrets. 

That being said, none of them knew what to do about it, and if they  _ should  _ do anything about it. Everyone seemed to be doing fine, why interrupt their lives with what happened in the past? They thought it was for the best to leave it be.

Then that fateful call came...


	2. What a perfect day

It was raining. It was dark, dreary, and raining, perfect for a day such as this one. The cloud hid the stars and the wind stung their faces. The water splashed high as cars went by, drenching anyone who wasn’t far enough from the curb. Luckily, he had a jacket and rain boots to shield him from the harsh weather. He quickly walked through the puddles, fast enough that he recognized the urgency of the situation, but not running as they have had false calls before. 

_ What a perfect day _ , he thought to himself. He was getting much better with sarcasm.

The yellow light shone brightly ahead, illuminating the small corner of the street. He hurried towards it, seeing the rest of them already sitting inside. He swung the door open and winced as the bell rang and the slamming of the door followed closely behind. The attention of the entire cafe turned to look at him, and just as quickly, they shrugged and turned away. Letting out a sigh of relief, Charlie lifted his hand to his hood and brushed it off. 

Hesitantly - and it was  _ always  _ hesitantly - Charlie sat down beside Matteusz. He met his eyes for only a brief second and gave him an acknowledging smile. That was what they always did nowadays. 

From afar, Charlie only saw the figures from his former friends. Up close, his heart dropped. Something was wrong.  _ Very  _ wrong. Everyone was looking everywhere they possibly could to avoid making any eye contact with each other, and it wasn’t the awkward kind of avoidance either. Their breaths were deep, eyes glassy, and attitude defeated. Their nightmare had come true. 

His heart stopped.

He was late for the meeting, and he had told them this. He had scheduled a meeting with a professor to go over his paper and give him any feedback, and the meeting went alright, although not as well as he would’ve hoped. Now, for perhaps the first time in his life, Charlie wished he had rescheduled or canceled. Maybe the news would’ve been easier to hear if he hadn’t had a clue what happened. Maybe it would’ve been easier to hear if everyone else hadn’t known either.

He knew what happened. Well, not really, but technically he did. Who needed to know what happened, all they needed to know was that it was back, and that meant trouble. 

Nevertheless, he asked, eyes focused on his hands on the table, his voice soft, trying to keep out as much fear as he could. “What happened?”

“I saw it,” April said, sounding stronger than he did. “I don’t know if it let anything out or if it sucked anyone in, but I saw it in the corridors. It wasn’t like before. It wasn’t open for long and the crack wasn’t really big, but it was open.”

“But no one has gone missing,” Matteusz said, turning to look at Charlie. He kept his eyes focused on his hands. He didn’t have to look at Matteusz to know what expression was on his face. He didn’t have to look to know that Matteusz was trying to comfort him. He hated how despite himself not looking, he felt comforted anyway. 

“But it is back, “ He countered, eyes finally looking up to look at Ram and Tanya who remained silent. 

They nodded.

“Has anything weird been happening?” He asked April. 

“No,” She shrugged her shoulders. “Or at least, nothing that I’ve noticed. Quill thinks something’s going on, but - ” 

“But she always thinks something’s going on,” He finished for her. A small smile tugged at her lips and she nodded. 

“Better to think something’s going on, instead of ignoring it,” Tanya spoke up. She was poking the side of the cup, seemingly drawing into it. They fell silent. 

If she hadn’t been through hell already, they would’ve kept her out of the loop on this. Tanya, more than any of them, deserved to live a life alien-free. She lost too much at far too young. They were all hoping nothing would happen so she could continue living her life - a life that would be beautiful and incredibly successful. She didn’t need to lose more time to fighting. She didn’t need to lose more. Period. 

“I’ll keep looking at for it, but I thought I’d tell you guys to do the same, you know, in case we wanted to watch the school or something,” April suggested, and they all nodded in agreement. “I know that this is a lot so we don’t have to figure it out now, but we should figure out something soon.”

“What would we do?” Ram said. It was abrupt and angry, but he was genuine and scared. His leg was bouncing up and down and his finger was tapping the table. Anyone could see he was on edge, but only they could see that he was scared, and they were the only ones in the world who knew what he was scared of. 

Despite the anger in Ram’s tone, he wasn’t rude. He looked directly into April’s eyes and she knew that the anger wasn’t directed at her. He was genuinely interested in what she had to say and the ideas she had thought of so far, but he was just angry that they needed them in the first place. 

April shrugged her shoulders. “I will keep track of it during the day, of course, but I thought maybe we could pair up at night, and walk around the school, for like an hour or so, to keep an eye on it. We can alternate every day for - I don’t know - a month? Then we can decide what to do next.”

They nodded their heads. They weren’t really agreeing to it but they weren’t  _ dis _ agreeing either. They were numb. They were sick to their stomachs. They were exhausted and beat and dreadful. They had gotten their own lives - they finally had control - and this ripped away everything that had been building up since the Cabinet of Souls. 

Fuck their lives.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Want another chapter?


	3. Help!

Life is full of transitions, Matteusz had learned. The key to surviving it is to create a new normal and make that the regular. Fighting it – treating it as something from the past – will only initiate resistance and unhappiness. As cliché as it sounds, dealing with it, rather than ignoring it, is the best way to handle these situations.

He has gone through so many transitions in his life. The first one was when he finally realized that he was gay. It didn’t change him, but it changed his family. He sadly had to grow accustomed to a new way of living with the people he loved more than anything else. The second transition – which is arguably the biggest one of all – was their moving to London. He had to leave behind everything he knew and everyone he loved in exchange for knowing no one and having to learn a different language. This led to another major transition which was simply knowing – then eventually falling for – Charlie Smith.

Charlie changed his world for the third time on prom night. Not only did he get his first boyfriend and love, but he found that aliens most definitively existed and that one species out of a billion others were attached to the heart of his newfound friend and they were trying to kill their planet as they did the one before. This previous planet belonged to Charlie, so yeah, he also found out that he was dating one of the billion aliens out in the galaxy. That was all life-changing, but there was one more thing that Charlie did, and he didn’t even realize he was doing it. By being with Matteusz and Matteusz being with him, it made his parents face his sexuality. 

Transition four: he had to go live with Charlie. His parents had to acknowledge his sexuality but instead of accepting it, they rejected and ignored him.

The fifth transition was the Cabinet of Souls. Up until this point, that was the last huge transition that he had to go through. It gave him nightmares, it broke up him and Charlie, it tore apart his new-found family, and it drove him out of his home. 

He had recovered. Or so he thought until tonight. The crack never came back during the remaining time at Coal Hill. His life was no longer about aliens. His life became about what every person worries after school: what should I do with my life? His life went from constant adrenaline and fear to domesticity and relative safety. He did have another family, but he did have a few friends, one of whom he lived with. They both had a job, paying off for their small flat, and they got along and hung out a lot. 

Matteusz hooked up here and there but overall, he didn’t really date. There was no one he clicked with. He and Charlie had been long over, and they had both healed from it, or it seemed as though they both had. He never connected with anyone the way he did with Charlie. Their attraction to each other was1 immediate but in all honesty, their feelings for each other weren’t that far apart. After their first conversation, Matteusz knew that Charlie was special and that if Charlie was interested in him as well, he would not hesitate to go out with him. There was an emotional connection between the two of them that formed so quickly and so strongly that he still doesn’t quite understand, especially since he hasn’t experienced anything like that with anyone else. 

Despite his lack of dating, Matteusz truly thought that he was no longer in love with Charlie. He still loved him, and he still cared for him, but he was no longer _in _love with him. It didn’t make sense how he could love him while also not loving him but that was what he told himself, and that was what he believed. Charlie was his first love, and Matteusz believed that a part of his heart would always belong to him. He never imagined that he could still be in love with him.

But of course, everything was about to come crashing down on him within a matter of seconds in one phone call. 

He had been gearing up for a relaxing night of drinking and tv with his roommate when his phone started vibrating in his pocket. Holding the beers in one hand, he pulled his phone out, checking the caller id: _Charlie_. If Charlie had called him three weeks ago, Matteusz’s heart would’ve stopped in fear. Three weeks ago, if there was an unscheduled call, that meant something bad had happened.

Something bad did happen, but he didn’t know it yet. 

Confused, he picked up the phone. “Charlie?”

“Matteusz,” Charlie cried, and Matteusz’s heart did, in fact, stop. His voice was panicked and scared and loud, almost as if he was shouting. “I need you to come pick me up.” 

He doesn’t really remember anything after that. He remembered asking the immediate questions _what? what’s the matter? what’s happened? where are you?_ to which Charlie answered vaguely to all of them, but he was moving so quickly, and he was so scared that he didn’t even realize he had left the apartment. All of the motions were blurring together under the sound of his own heartbeat in his ears and the echo of Charlie’s pained cries. Nothing registered to him until he almost ran a red light, coming close to rear-ending another driver.

Thankfully, the five of them still shared their location, which was how he was finding Charlie. His ex-lover didn’t even know where he was. He rambled on the phone about the signs nearby, but every time Matteusz tried to ask him Charlie begged him to come get him. He didn’t know what happened. He didn’t know anything besides the fact that Charlie didn’t know what was happening either. 

_I don’t know! I don’t know! Something’s wrong! I don’t know what it is!_

Matteusz slammed on his breaks, spotting Charlie’s car on the side of the road. He pulled over, sliding in right behind it, put it in break, and sprinted out of the car and up to Charlie’s.

“Charlie!” He yelled, opening the door. Matteusz had so many questions. He had been going over each scenario in his head and the questions to ask, and none of it prepared him for this. The sentences he was about to form, died in a thick lump in his throat. 

Charlie was sitting at the steering wheel covered in blood. His mouth, hands, shirt, legs, and feet were drenched in what was his own blood. Charlie was crying, he was saying something, but Matteusz couldn’t hear him. Not yet. After a few excruciating seconds passed (it felt like hours), Matteusz snapped into action. 

“Oh my god, Charlie,” He whispered, bending down to unbuckle him from his seat. He ran his hands over his shirt, trying to search for any kind of wound, but found nothing. He cupped Charlie’s face which was pale, exhausted, puffy, and bloody, and he asked, “What’s happened?” 

“I don’t know!” He hysterically cried. “I don’t know. A few days ago, I threw up, but then it just kept happening and happening until there was blood and I thought I had some sort of virus, but it just kept coming. I was driving and I – “ He cried harder, wincing as he opened his unbuttoned shirt. “Then something started moving.” 

There was a bump – a very distinct bump – on the right side of Charlie’s abdomen, a few inches away from his heart. Hands shaking, Charlie moved his hand to touch it but Matteusz grabbed it, not wanting to do anything to make it worse. That, and, he was terrified of what it would do to Charlie if he touched it. 

Charlie collapses onto him, sobbing and almost screaming. “There’s something inside me! It – It’s like it’s eating me from the inside out.” 

Matteusz, without a second thought, picked Charlie out of his seat and carried him back to his car. There were only two sentences that went through Matteusz’s head: 

_Save Charlie._

_We have to go to Quill. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Idk man you will see happens if I decide to write more


	4. We are going to save you

_ And so, my love I give you my heart. Completely, honestly, and wholeheartedly, my heart belongs to you. You’ve wished for me as I have for you. Together we walk and together we go for I have promised to love you for today, and I will make this promise again tomorrow.  _

* * *

“I need your help,” He begged, barely able to keep the almost unconscious Charlie on his feet. Her eyes widened ever so slightly, and Matteusz wasn’t sure if that was a surprised reaction to their sudden appearance or to Charlie covered in blood. Either way, she clenched her jaw and quietly opened the door. As Matteusz stepped into the doorway, Charlie started groaning, hands suddenly clenching tightly to Matteusz, tugging on him for help. Without speaking or thinking, Matteusz carried Charlie to the upstairs bathroom as fast as he could. The second he opened the door, Charlie threw himself off of him and into the direction of the toilet, quickly vomiting up more blood, sobbing and almost screaming as he did so. 

When he had a chance to pause for a breath, Matteusz knelt down beside him, held him close for one moment and whispered, “I’m going to get Miss Quill. Will only be gone for a second.” Charlie whimpered but nodding nonetheless in response. Matteusz kissed the top of his head, just wanting to touch him in some way before they have to do whatever they have to do, then he sprinted downstairs, finding Miss Quill in the kitchen. “Please help him.” If he wasn’t so fueled with fear and adrenaline, Matteusz knew he would sobbing so hard he wouldn’t have gotten the words out, but he was fearful, so fearful in fact, his voice came off as strong. “I don’t know what’s happening to him - there was something moving in his stomach - he is losing so much blood, and I - “

Matteusz was cut off by Quill going up the stairs. He followed closely behind her, anxious to see what she was about to do. She stood at the doorway, still and calm. Charlie was slouched over the toilet, shaking and crying, but no longer vomiting for the moment. He didn’t acknowledge either of their presences and honestly, he didn’t think Charlie knew where he was. Everything Matteusz has said has only gotten a nod in response. Charlie doesn’t know what is happening, he just knows that he needs to corporate. “Where is this “something” moving?” She asked.

Matteusz opened his mouth ready to answer, but then his throat closed up, breaking the strong voice that had left him earlier. “It…It’s near his heart.” His voice was quiet and on the verge of breaking. Whatever was happening, it intended on killing Charlie either through his heart or through eventual bleeding out. 

Quill inhaled sharply, narrowing her eyes, then stepping aside. “Very well then, take off his shirt. I’ll go get the knife.” Her voice and attitude were very resounding as if this were a total inconvenience and bore to her. Matteusz knew why that was and to an extent, he did not blame her but in this particular moment he wished that she wasn’t. He was glad she was as calm and in control as always because he needed that right now but he also wished for some sort of comfort. He didn’t know what but maybe just some sign that she…that she sympathized. Quill is capable of empathy and sympathy, he supposes it just depends on the person and situation. He hasn’t been a subject of either quite often. 

When he first moved in, Quill was Quill, but every once in a while she would show some empathy in regards to his situation, but that was as far as it went. He wished for a simple glance that she would occasionally provide a few years back instead of the Quill that he knew before moving in. It was just a wish - a wish from a very scared young man who did not want to be alone in this situation. 

Numbly, he nodded his head, and Quill strolled past him, making her way back down the stairs. He looked back at Charlie who was shaking violently over the toilet. Matteusz slowly stepped forward, not wanting to make things worse even though it would be once Quill came back up. He knelt down on the ground and pulled Charlie against him, hoping to bring some source of warmth and comfort, but his ex-lover was fading away. Matteusz tugged the jacket off his arms and threw it into the tub. He quickly rummaged through the cabinets in search of a towel then laid it over the cold, tiled floor, and gently nudged Charlie to lie down. He unbuttoned his shirt, hands shaking in fear at what he would find squirming around in Charlie’s chest. 

It was more predominant than before, sticking out against Charlie’s weak chest, and Matteusz supposed the skin of the creature was blue as it was pale but clear through his pale skin. It wasn’t moving for the moment. Matteusz hadn’t been exactly watching it but it wasn’t far from where it had been from when Charlie and first showed it to him, so that hopefully meant that it was slow-moving, which gave Quill more time to catch it. 

Matteusz wanted to throw up at the thought of what was about to happen. At any other point in time, Matteusz would be concerned about the idea of Quill having to come at Charlie with a knife, but this a time of necessity. Charlie was an alien. His heart was located on the right side of his abdomen. The Doctor could change appearance but they could not change anatomy. Matteusz was ill-equipped to do this on so many levels, so that left him with only one option. Whatever was inside Charlie was another monster that Quill would be glad to kill and would be more than capable of doing so. If there was more time, then maybe Matteusz would’ve tried to find another way, but this was life or death, so whatever Quill needed to do to help him, Matteusz was going to go along with it. 

He closed his eyes, a quick tear falling down as he listened to the approaching steps. He shuffled around Charlie’s body, moving over next to his head and taking hold of his hands. “We are going to save you, Charlie,” He whispered before pressing a wet kiss to his forehead. 

Quill stood in the doorway, knife in hand and box full of bandages and a jar. She knelt down at Charlie’s feet and shoved them over so she could get a closer look at his chest. She looked up at him, her eyebrow raised. “Ready?” She asked. 

Matteusz wrapped his fingers around Charlie’s wrists and held them against the floor. He couldn’t speak. He couldn’t make his throat open up to let his voice through. Instead, he looked directly into her eyes and nodded his head, hoping that Charlie was weak enough that he wouldn’t feel or remember any of this, and most importantly, he wouldn’t be able to fight back against Matteusz. 

Quill pinched the bump in his side. Matteusz gulped as he watched it slowly yet frantically squirm in her grip. She of course, was stronger than it. Once she knew she had a grip on it, she did not hesitate to cut through the skin and directly into the creature. Charlie started whimpering underneath him but Matteusz did his best to block it out. There was another noise to listen to after all. There was a weak screeching noise that could be heard from underneath Miss Quill’s fingers. The knife breached it but now they -  _ she -  _ needed to get it out. Her fingers moved inside the insertion she had carved into his side, trying to find a firm enough grip to rip it out. It was squirming more now and as it did Charlie grew louder. He wasn’t screaming but he was gasping and whimpering and moving his head around as if it would help him escaped from the pain. 

“Fucker,” Quill muttered, before digging the knife deeper into Charlie. Matteusz shut his eyes tightly, unable to look at what she was doing. He didn’t open them until he heard, “Gotcha.”

He opened his eyes just in time to watch as Quill ripped out the creature, knife buried into its back and ruthlessly pulled it out. She tossed it onto the floor beside her and grabbed the jar from the box of bandages. She handed it over to Matteusz and he unscrewed it for her, seeing as her hands were full with a murderous alien. He handed it back over and she dropped it in, quickly sealing it over, trapping the barely alive monster inside. 

Charlie was out. He was breathing but he was unconscious, and Matteusz was terrified of how long he would be. His grip on Charlie’s wrists remained as he noticed Quill taking out a thread and needle. He breathed a sigh of relief. He figured they weren’t going to leave the wound open but he was glad to see that she was willing to put stitches in. Once again, this was not Matteusz’s profession. He would’ve been lost on what to do. 

After she finished, Matteusz wrapped in up, hoping that it would protect it from any further infection. Before Quill left the bathroom, Matteusz asked, “Can we stay? Just for tonight. Just to make sure he is okay.”

She rolled her eyes, which was so Quill that it made Matteusz smile just a teeny bit. “Fine.”

Once again, she turned to leave but before she could Matteusz said, “Thank you.” His throat was beginning to burn again. “Thank you for saving him.”

Then she left. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, if you want me to continue, please comment
> 
> The chances of me continuing are always up in the air

**Author's Note:**

> Comments are greatly appreciated :)
> 
> If anyone would love to see this continued the please let me know in the comments or on my tumblr


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